by Karla García, Summer 2026

My practice traces the shifting geographies of land, memory, and material, using ceramics as both archive and witness. An Archive of Land is a project that looks at the ground as more than just soil; it is a living record of ecological and cultural history that I study to create a series of site-specific ceramic installations. Each installation will become a chapter in the “archive” as I reinterpret how land is a reflection of the everyday spaces which we inhabit. The first chapter of this project looks to the Sandhills of Nebraska and will be realized in the kitchen space of the Armstrong House Museum in Rushville, a historic home within this landscape. 

My affinity for the Sandhills region grew from its unique geology, where wild grasses, flowers, and crops grow from the sand dunes that are sustained by the Ogallala Aquifer. A recent study in Conservation Science and Practice states that “of all the temperate grasslands in all the countries in all the world, the Nebraska Sandhills are the most intact.”1 In my research, I have learned that this aquifer, a vital resource to the region and its ecologies, is at risk of depletion due to overfarming and climate change.2 This biome depends on the aquifer for survival, which deepens the need to create an artistic record aimed at fostering ideas of connection and care. 

I chose the kitchen of the Armstrong House Museum because, like the aquifer, it is a site of nourishment and kinship. The objects in the kitchen are records of the heritage of Rushville, each carrying its own story. To help inform my understanding of the region, I am also studying Mari Sandoz’s writings on the Sandhills and the Great Plains. Sandoz offers an informed view of the beauty and harshness of the environment from a historical perspective while also providing a critical examination of the myths vs. the realities about the lives of the region’s settlers and indigenous communities. In dialogue with this layered heritage, my practice extends into the landscape itself. My work emphasizes touch and repetition and reflects on the duality of clay as fragile and enduring, echoing the stages of natural life. 

The link between domestic heritage and ecology shaped how I approached my summers at the Sandhills Institute (2024-2025). In my research, I observed, photographed, and collected wild clay, and flora such as native grasses and wild flowers, as inspiration to create a series of sculptures made with wire and glazed hand-built ceramic works. These will be installed among the museum’s collection of objects, transforming the kitchen into a surreal space for visitors. The wild grasses and other plants will appear to grow from and interact with the surfaces of this room. Placing the ceramic flora inside the kitchen opens a dialogue between ecological and domestic spaces, alluding to the intersection of daily life and the land.

With sustainability in mind, and a commitment to produce a large body of work, I plan to use recycled clay from my studio in Texas, supplemented by clay sourced from a local ceramic supplier. The wild clay that I collected near Crawford, Nebraska, will be integrated into glaze formulations to further embed the materiality of the physical landscape into the sculptures. To achieve the scale and complexity of this installation, I plan to develop a large base glaze that can be tested and refined. The Guggenheim support would make it possible to fire the work in-studio using a large kiln, which is an essential component for maintaining the integrity of the sculptures, which are too fragile to transport to external facilities in their unfired state. 

This setup will support steady production and ensure the Armstrong House installation is completed by the second half of 2026, and allow for future “chapters” to be produced. The exhibition will be open for two months for nearby communities to visit. The opening will include an artist talk and printed documentation of the project (i.e. images of the collection of flora, sketches, and research notes). Additionally, information about the exhibition will be shared with the local and national public.

The Guggenheim Fellowship would provide the time and resources to expand this project and build lasting collaborations across geographies. Aiming to extend the reach, growth in scale, visibility, and long-term impact of the Archive, the Sandhills installation will serve as a foundation for organizing future research and site-specific installations in other locales. Supported by this grant, the project An Archive of Land begins in the Sandhills, drawing from its ecology and cultural history to invite the public to explore, reflect, and reimagine their own relationships with land in domestic, cultural, and historical environments.